Analysts from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) expect funds raised via A-share IPO’s in China to rise to a decade-long high in 2021.
“The A-share IPO financing amount could rise to another 10-year high [in 2021]” said Liang Weijian (梁伟坚), partner at PWC China, at a press conference held in Beijing on 4 January for the release of 2020 IPO data.
“We expect the number of IPO’s to reach 430 – 490, raising funds of between 450 billion – 480 billion yuan (approx. USD$75 billion).”
Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic China saw a total of 395 A-share IPO’s in 2020, for a YoY rise of 97%. These IPO’s raised 471.9 billion yuan, for a YoY increase of 86% and the highest level since 2011.
PWC believes the launch of the A-share registration system in China has played a key role in accelerating the pace of A-share IPO’s.
“While the Novel Coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on the global economy, because China’s domestic economy rapidly and steadily recovered, and because of the success of stage-based registration system reforms, A-share IPO activity was not only unaffected, but instead displayed a positive trend of activity,” said Liang.
“Looking to 2021, A-share IPO’s will continue to maintain a positive development momentum, benefiting from the Dual Circulation policy and the central government’s 14th Five Year Plan.”
PWC’s IPO Projections for 2021
| Board | No. of IPO’s | Fund-raising amount (billion yuan) | No. of IPO’s in 2020 | Fund-raising amount in 2020 (billion yuan) |
| Shanghai mainboard | 100 – 110 | 100 – 110 | 89 | 122.8 |
| Shanghai STAR board | 150 – 170 | 200 – 210 | 145 | 222.6 |
| Shenzhen SME board | 55 – 60 | 40 | 54 | 37.2 |
| Shenzhen ChiNext board | 125 – 150 | 110 – 120 | 107 | 89.3 |
| Total | 430 – 490 | 450 – 480 | 395 | 471.9 |
As of the final trading day of 2020 China was host to 4142 A-share companies, of which 1795 were listed in Shanghai and 2347 listed in Shenzhen.
China’s ten largest A-share IPO’s in 2020 raised a total of 141.7 billion yuan, accounting for 30% of the total fund-raising amount.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) staged the biggest IPO in 2020, raising 53.23 billion yuan, and accounting for 37.54% of the the fund-raising sum for China’s ten biggest IPO’s that year.
